The governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) described a European Union plan to set up a way to preserve business with Iran and avoid renewed American sanctions as a kind of monetary pact and said it will be finalized in the near future.

Abdonnaser Hemmati said the details of the payment channel for trade between Iran and the EU were discussed at a meeting last week in Brussels.

The channel is slated to open soon, he said, adding that it would resemble a kind of monetary pact between Iran and the EU.

The European Union has vowed to counter US President Donald Trump’s renewed sanctions on Iran, including by means of a new law to shield European companies from punitive measures.

On May 8, the US president pulled his country out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal that was achieved in Vienna in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).

Following the US exit, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.

Trump on August 6 signed an executive order re-imposing many sanctions on Iran, three months after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal.

He said the US policy is to levy “maximum economic pressure” on the country.

Trump also restated his opinion that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was a “horrible, one-sided deal”.